Kidnap Victim Pays Off Again

DUBLIN, IRELAND — Four gunmen abducted the manager of the American Express Co. office and his wife and held them hostage Tuesday until the executive handed over $117,000 in traveler`s checks.

It was the second time Stuart and Susan Melville had been abducted and released after the payment of a ransom. In March, 1984, the kidnapers made off with $23,400 in cash and $585,000 in traveler`s checks.

Police said four men forced their way into the Melvilles` north Dublin home about 8:30 p.m. Monday and held Melville at gunpoint until his wife returned from her job as a nurse at a hospital early Tuesday.

Keeping Mrs. Melville as a captive, the gunmen instructed her husband to go to his office, fill a bag with traveler`s checks and then meet them at a rendezvous.

Melville was walking to the meeting place when the gunmen surprised him and took the bag, which police said held an estimated $117,000 in traveler`s checks.

Mrs. Melville was released unharmed about 10:45 a.m. in south Dublin, where she caught a bus for a two-mile ride to a police station.